The present invention relates generally to an apparatus for holding a cold or warm material for therapeutic uses, treatment methods using the apparatus, and methods of producing the apparatus. Included among the embodiments of the present invention are embodiments comprising a chamber, a sealing mechanism and an attachment mechanism so that the bag may be positioned adjacent to an area of the body to treat injury and relieve associated pain. The chamber may hold a cold material such as ice, or a hot material, such as a heating composition.
Ice and heat therapy is used extensively within the health care community to treat injury and relieve associated pain. The therapy is typically administered via a bag containing ice or another cooling or heating substance. These bags generally have a hollow chamber or pocket, a neck, and a mouth. The hollow chamber or pocket may be formed from a single or multi-layer laminated plastic film, which may be laminated to a fabric or non-woven material for insulation. Clips may be used at the neck area to close and seal the mouth to prevent it from leaking. Preferably, the mouth of the bag is as large as possible to facilitate easy filling of the bag.
Clip designs for sealing the bag shut may vary, but all pose a problem as they have a tendency to interfere when a bag is filled at, for example, an ice machine. The clips are also prone to falling off when an bag is opened. Due to the cost of manufacturing large clips, as well as their operational inefficiency, the mouth of a typical bag is generally relatively small. For example, hinged clips having a blade, a trough, and an attachment at one end, are prone to leaks at the center-section of the clip as the clip becomes larger because there is no structural support in the center area of these clips. Roll clamps, consisting of a male and a female section which are secure across the clamp, provide better sealing properties. However, roll clamps are expensive and may be difficult to close. Additionally, clips are typically taped to a bag so that they remain with the bag when not in use. Condensation, however, may detach the tape, causing a clip to be lost. Finally, clips may have sharp edges, and a health care worker or patient may experience discomfort or injury as the result of a sharp edge coming into contact with their skin.
Bags holding cold or warm materials are typically held in place relative to an injured area of the body with straps attached to the corners of the bag. Rigid or stretch wraps may also be used to hold a bag in place, however, these wraps are typically not fixedly attached to the bag.
Thus, what is needed are reusable bags that have low cost and effective sealing mechanisms fixedly attached thereto, large mouths to facilitate easy filling, and attached straps or wraps for positioning and holding the bag relative to an injured area of the body.
Accordingly, the above identified shortcomings of existing therapeutic bags are overcome by the present invention, which relates to therapeutic bags having a low cost and effective sealing mechanism, a large mouth to facilitate easy filling, and attached straps or wraps for positioning and holding the bag relative to an injured area of the body. In embodiments of the present invention, bags may be advantageously utilized to hold a cold substance, such as ice or a hot substance, such as a heated chemical composition.
In an embodiment, the present invention provides a therapeutic bag for treating injury and relieving associated pain comprising:
a chamber having a mouth and an interior containment pocket;
a mechanism for retaining a material in the chamber; and an attachment mechanism fixedly attached to the therapeutic bag for positioning and holding the chamber in a desired location. The mechanism for retaining a material in the chamber may comprise a sealing mechanism fixedly attached to the chamber for sealing the interior containment pocket closed in a substantially leak-proof manner.
The present invention also relates to methods of making the aforementioned therapeutic bags. The therapeutic bags of the present invention can be easily modified to be made of virtually any kind of suitable material for holding a cool or warm material. The attached straps or wraps can likewise be made of virtually any kind of suitable material and/or attachment mechanisms that are capable of holding the bag in position once it is properly positioned on a body. Furthermore, the therapeutic bags of the present invention can be modified to be of any suitable size and configuration so as to be useful for application to many different body parts.
For ease of reference in explaining the present invention, embodiments of the present invention are generally described herein with reference to ice. As will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art, embodiments of the present invention are capable of holding different types of cold material, including, but not limited to: frozen water, other frozen liquid compositions, cooled liquid compositions, cooled polymer compositions, cooled mineral materials, cooled metal materials, re-freezable liquid containing vessels, and/or combinations thereof. For example, particular embodiments of the present invention may be designed to hold the commonly available chemical xe2x80x9cicexe2x80x9d compositions that are capable of being refrozen. In general, for therapeutic application of cold, an embodiment of the present invention will be capable of holding a material that is below ambient temperature, for example, between xe2x88x925 and 15 C.
As described above, embodiments of the present invention may also be utilized to hold a xe2x80x9chotxe2x80x9d material for therapeutic use in application of heat. Hot materials include, but are not limited to, heated liquid compositions, heated chemical compositions, heated mineral materials, heated metal materials and/or combinations thereof. In general, for the therapeutic application of heat, the material will have an initial temperature that is above ambient temperature, for example above 22 C, including 23-50 C. Prior to application to an injured area, the heated material should be at a temperature below a temperature that will damage tissue or cause pain to a user.
As used herein, ambient temperature refers to a temperature of 18-25 C.
In certain embodiments of the present invention, the chamber may comprise a sealing mechanism to retain the hot or cold material within the chamber. In other possible embodiments of the present invention, the chamber may be designed to retain a hot or cold material without a sealing mechanism. For example, an embodiment of the present invention may comprise a chamber suitable for retaining a commercially available chemical cold or hot pack. In these types of chemical packs, the chemical substance is retained within the pack by a substantially leak proof barrier. Thus, in this type of embodiment of the present invention, the chamber may be designed to hold the chemical pack, but need not necessarily include a separate sealing mechanism.
The present invention also relates to methods of using a therapeutic bag of the present invention for treating injury and relieving associated pain. A method of the present invention comprises positioning a therapeutic bag of the present invention in proximity to an area to be treated and securing the therapeutic bag utilizing the attachment mechanism provided as part of the therapeutic bag. In an additional preliminary step, a method of the present invention may further comprise filling the therapeutic bag with a cold material or a hot material. In an additional subsequent step, a method of the present invention may further comprise leaving the bag in place until the hot or cold material reach, or near, ambient temperature.
The foregoing description of the present invention is provided by way of an example only. As is understood by those skilled in the art, the concepts discussed herein may be implemented in a variety of ways. Each is intended to be within the purview and scope of the present invention. Further aspects and advantages of the present invention will be more readily apparent to those skilled in the art during the course of the following description, references being made to the accompanying drawings which illustrate some preferred forms of the present invention and wherein like characters of reference designate like parts throughout the drawings.